Shingen Takeda

Shingen Takeda (1 December 1521-13 May 1573) was the daimyo of the Takeda clan of Kai Province. Known for his exceptional military prestige, Shingen led the best cavalry in Japan during the Sengoku Period. Shingen was also known for his friendship and rivalries with the Hojo and Uesugi clans of the Kanto Region, at times fighting and allying with Ujiyasu Hojo and Kenshin Uesugi. Shingen died in 1573 while besieging Kyoto.

Biography
Shingen Takeda was born on 1 December 1521 in Kofu Castle, Kai Province (now a part of Japan). Shingen's father Nobutora Takeda favored his younger brother Nobushige Takeda, but Shingen seized the land and power for himself and became the daimyo of his clan. He took advantage of the superior warhorses of Kai Province to recruit a cavalry corps that aided in his conquest. Shingen and his brother Nobushige set out to make the Takeda the new shogunate, and in 1545 they started by capturing Matsumoto Castle from the Murakami clan. Shingen's success in the capture of Shinano Province with the fall of Matsumoto led to the beginning of a new era of the Takeda clan in the Sengoku Period - the era of Warring States. Shingen and his army proceeded to capture Takayama in Hida Province from the Anegakoji in 1546 and defeated Yoshiaki Jinbo in Etchu Province in the winter. Nobushige was slain, but Shingen was able to proceed with his invasion of Etchu.

In the 1550s, Shingen was caught up in the Sagami-Suruga Conflict between the Hojo clan of the Sagami (led by Ujiyasu Hojo) and the Imagawa clan of Suruga (led by Yoshimoto Imagawa). Shingen had made alliance treaties with both in 1545, but he chose to support his older ally, the Imagawa clan. His forces stopped the Hojo from capturing the region of Kanto, but later allied with the Hojo to defeat the Uesugi when they invaded the region. The Takeda and Hojo defeated Kenshin Uesugi's army when they laid siege to Odawara Castle from 13 March-April 1561 in hopes of keeping the Hojo in their debt, and they secured an alliance with the Hojo (Yoshimoto Imagawa and his clan perished in the 1560 Battle of Okehazama). Shingen won the battle of Kawanakajima on 10 September 1561 against the Uesugi forces, but the Uesugi were still strong and the "Kanto Three" of Shingen, Ujiyasu, and Kenshin resumed their rivalries.

Shingen's attempt to take Odawara Castle from the Hojo at Mimase Pass on 8 October 1569 led to a strategic defeat in failing to take Odawara, but they inflicted a defeat on the Hojo at the Battle of Mimase Pass, laying the Hojo army to waste as inexperienced Hojo young generals Ujinaga Hojo and Ujikuni Hojo tried to pursue. Shingen won yet another victory at the Battle of Tonegawa in 1571 with aid from the Hojo, and this was to be his final battle with the Kanto Three. He proceeded to ally with the Uesugi and Hojo in a bid to secure the Ashikaga Shogunate capital of Kyoto, and began to advance west while Ujiyasu Hojo defended the lands back home in Kanto.

Shingen's army was caught up in a mess at the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573, where his army was stopped as they traversed through the Tokugawa clan's Mikawa Province. Shingen's cavalry overran the Tokugawa forces, but Ieyasu Tokugawa evaded defeat and the Tokugawa remained strong. Shingen was able to proceed on to Kyoto with Kenshin, but he fell ill and died during the attack. His clan was to be crushed at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, and in 1582 his clan's last stronghold fell.